Political Standing
Political Standing for March 5, 2010
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Maggie Hassan: The Senate Majority foreshadowed her huge policy gamble of S.B. 505 and some predicted/vowed that this would be the week when the Hassan for Governor 2012 campaign would be derailed. But that didn’t happen, did it? Setting aside the policy idea itself and focusing purely on the politics, Hassan was setting the agenda with a bold plan on the dominant issue in American politics. Could she have rolled it out better? Yes. Will there need to be floor amendments to get this thing passed in the Senate? Yes, though it passed committee days after being introduced. Could next week be a disaster for her bill and her politically? Yes, it could.
Hodes for Senate team: Have these been the best few months for Paul Hodes, the candidate? Well, no. But somewhere along the line it should be noted that his team is at least trying. Really hard. And that counts for something.
Sean Mahoney: Beginning on Monday there were significant rumblings that a Mahoney for Congress run was about to go down and, frankly, the Mahoney conversation dominated the week, especially Thursday. But Mahoney has to understand there is a significant group of folks to whom this waiting game is actually starting to make their eyes roll. Politically he might not be able to wait for the next finance reports to come out nearly a month and a half away.
Dave Carney: Hancock’s best political mind got a huge win with his client Gov. Rick Perry’s 21 point win over Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Texas Republican primary. A year ago no one would have bet that margin, and some would have even been with KBH. Well done.
Bill Binnie: The Senate race has lost a lot of flash in recent weeks, but Binnie appears to be putting his head down and sticking with his campaign plan. His third and fourth ads were released this week. Campaigns, particularly primaries, are usually won by the non-flashy stuff and the over all political environment.
Carol Shea-Porter: She got ahead of the Charlie Rangel “tainted cash” storyline and then raised some good money in Boston with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. If she is going to be called “Carol Shea-Pelosi” anyway then she might as well get the upside.
John Stephen: In late September 2008 no one, even Stephen, was sure what his political future held. This week he is the all but certain nominee for governor. Let’s not forget that the happiest person reading the Mahoney for Congress news Thursday morning was Stephen since it means he would not be in a gubernatorial primary against him.
New Hampshire Food Bank: The political back and forth on the Charlie Rangel donations netted them at least $10,000 and potentially more.
DOWN
Mark Bodi/Dan Eaton: Just what the Democratic Party needs right now, a slow burning potential political scandal. Another shout-out to the Nashua Telegraph’s Kevin Landrigan who had another big scoop this week.
Rich Ashooh: The rationale for his Congressional campaign was that he was the anti-Frank Guinta who COULD raise money. Now there is a guy in the race who is another anti-Guinta candidate who HAS money. The moment Mahoney officially announces Ashooh drops to third place.
George Campbell: We all know he’s carrying Lynch’s water on this I-93 toll thing, however, the things people are saying about him are rivaling what people were privately saying about Craig Benson in 2004. That’s not a positive, by the way.
John Lynch: He found an opponent this week that, unlike his previous opponents, will have a megaphone and pound away every day on that high approval rating. He also had to backpedal on the LLC tax and potentially faces a scandal in the Bodi thing. Not the best of weeks.
Paul Hodes: According to Hodes the $17,000 that Charlie Rangel gave him beginning in 2004 was all spent and those accounts were closed. Then today Katrina Swett is donates money that Rangel gave her in 2002, which for her was not just 8 years ago, but two campaigns ago. The money stories killed everything else in the local press Hodes was trying to do. Is this a dumb process story? Yes, but end it already. Here is the number: 669-9725.
Nancy Elliott: Just when you thought the gay sex expert finally got out of the news cycle, she wiggled her way back in this week with police questioning her over her remarks. The Telegraph headline was classic: “Lawmaker cleared on sex claim.” When it comes to what is taught in school districts that aren’t your own may we suggest to Rep. Elliott a new personal policy: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.